An A-Z visitors guide to Milwaukee Wisconsin. Sponsored by Key Magazine Milwaukee, Wisconsin
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Real Pirates brings facts, not fiction to museum this month MOVE OVER fictional pirate Jack Sparrow. Artifacts from a real pirate ship will be on display at the Milwaukee Public Museum from Dec. 14 to May 27, 2013. Real Pirates, organized by National Geographic and Premier Exhibitions, features treasures from the only authenticated pirate shipwreck in U.S. waters in an exhibition that separates fact from fiction about the pirate trade. The exhibition tells the captivating true story of the Whydah, one of the most successful pirate ships of the Golden Age of Piracy, from its roots as a slave ship to its takeover and conversion to a pirate ship in the early 1700s. After only two months of conquests and plundering under the direction of Captain "Black Sam" Bellamy, one of the boldest pirates of his day, the Whydah sank off the coast of Cape Cod nearly 300 years ago. In 1984, underwater explorer Barry Clifford located the wreck site, which he is still excavating. Real Pirates tells the stories of four members of the Whydah crew, actual people who ended up on the same pirate ship for very different reasons. John King, the youngest known pirate on board the Whydah, was believed to be younger than 11 at the time of the shipwreck. When the ship he was traveling on with his mother was taken over by Bellamy, young John insisted on taking up with the pirate crew, despite his mother's objections. A dozen multimedia galleries showcase the reality of the slave trade in West Africa and the economic pros- perity in the Caribbean in the early 18th century that gave rise to piracy, the Whydah's journey, the ship's capture by Bellamy, the violent storm that sank the ship, its discovery by Clifford, and the recovery and conservation of its artifacts. At the core of Real Pirates are artifacts that have been painstakingly recovered from the ocean floor over the past 25 years by Barry Clifford and his team. Highlights include: • The Whydah's bell, inscribed "Whydah Galley 1716," which was used to authenticate the ship- wreck site. • Technologically advanced weaponry of the time – cannons, muskets, pistols, cutlasses, swords and more. • Pieces of the Whydah's rigging and tools the crew used to maintain it. • Artifacts from a real commode to plates and flat- ware, jewelry, clothing items and game pieces. • Navigational tools like sounding weights and ring dials. • A treasure chest filled with authentic coins last touched by real pirates. Tickets are on sale and include both admission to Real Pirates and the museum's permanent exhibit gal- leries. Ticket prices are $24 for adults Mon.–Thursday; $26 for adults Friday–Sunday; $17.50 for children Monday–Thursday, $18.50 chil- dren Friday–Sunday. The exhibition will be open from 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. daily, with extended hours every Thursday until 8 p.m. The last entry will be 60 min- utes before closing on all dates. Opened to the public in 1884, the Milwaukee Public Museum at 800 W. Wells Street is a natural and human history museum where the first complete museum habitat diorama in the world was created. Its three floors of exhibits now include life-size diora- mas, walk-through villages, dinosaurs, rain forest and a live butterfly garden. Visit mpm.edu.